Tomas Rosicky injury adds to Arsenal worries

Arsenal received more bad news when Tomas Rosicky admitted he will miss the
start of the Premier League campaign.

By John Ley

11:51PM BST 21 Jul 2008

The midfielder has not played since January and will miss early league games as well as the Champions League qualifying round.

Rosicky damaged his hamstring in the FA Cup win over Newcastle in January and managed to start only 15 league matches last season.

It is a blow for Arsene Wenger, who has lost a trio of midfielders this summer in Mathieu Flamini, Gilberto Silva and Alexander Hleb. Wenger was hoping Rosicky would be available from the start but the Czech captain, who missed Euro 2008 as a result of the injury, said: “I know I’ll miss the start of the club season. According to plans I should be back on the field in September.”

Rosicky will miss the

pre-season build-up, which continues tonight in Hungary against Szombathelyi Haladas, and is likely to be absent from league games against West Bromwich Albion, Fulham and Newcastle.

The good news for Arsenal is that French fullback Bacary Sagna completed 45 minutes in their pre-season friendly win at Barnet on Saturday, his first appearance since an ankle injury against Chelsea in March brought his season to a premature end.

“I still feel my ankle a little bit, but I can run and play football normally and I am confident it will improve every day,” Sagna said.

“It was good to play on Saturday and it is a nice feeling to be back in front of the fans. I haven’t played since March, so I was pleased to be with my team-mates as well.

“I feel better now and I hope that I can feel better and better with every new game. The last couple of weeks have been hard because it is the first time since my injury that I have been in training. I needed to find my performance level again and be prepared to give more than I have before.”

Despite the Rosicky setback, Arsenal have been made favourites to remain unbeaten the longest at the start of the 2008-09 campaign.